Kerusso Capital Management LLC Sells 3,531 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Kerusso Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 42.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,836 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,531 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after acquiring an additional 723,721 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Moody’s by 32.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $522.62.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $522.76 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $484.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $478.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.